Celtic Rely on Loan Signings for remainder of the season
The Full Scottish
There’s an old cliché that goes something like, “The easiest way to end a relationship is to loan the person money.”
Player loans are different, of course. They are a low-risk way for clubs to fill immediate needs without sacrificing their financial futures.
Served by Brian P. Dunleavy
They also give teams an opportunity to evaluate a player before committing to them long-term.
As with everything, though, context is key, and Celtic opting to do nothing but loan business—albeit with options to buy in some cases—during the recently closed January transfer window has left many of the club’s supporters nonplussed, or even down-right angry. That’s because the past two transfer windows—summer 2025 and January before it—have been deemed by many to have been unmitigated disasters.
It doesn’t help that the bulk of the Hoops’ business was done at the 11th hour before the window closed on Monday.
Boycott Brewing
With that in mind, some supporters groups are urging a boycott of Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Dundee at Celtic Park.
So far, the loanees in at Lennoxtown who have actually played for the Hoops—Tomáš Čvančara and Julián Araujo, the latter signed by Wilfried Nancy—have filled in immediate needs and acquitted themselves well.
Whether late additions Junior Adamu, Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur can do the same remains to be seen.
However, if they can’t, one thing is absolutely clear: Celtic will likely fail to chase down Hearts and even Rangers, both of whom improved their respective squads with PERMANENT signings in January, and retain the Premiership title.
When asked expressly by the media if the club intentionally avoided committing to permanent new signings in the January window because a new manager will be appointed in the summer, acting bench boss Martin O’Neill was adamant, “No, no.”
However, earlier in the same press conference, the Irishman noted, “The January window is difficult for permanence. I wouldn’t mind if you were spending a lot of money on a player … [that] I believe they would be players that the new manager coming in here would like.”
Difficult, indeed.